The North American, Virginia Opossum makes it’s home in the state of New Hampshire but not much further north than that. They do not hibernate and must come out of their dens and search for food all winter long. Their coats are rather thin and their tails, ears and feet are bare so they are very vulnerable to frostbite. This far north they rarely live longer than two years. These mammals are marsupials, meaning they are born very small and continue to develop in the mother’s abdominal pouch. They are nocturnal and are not often seen in daylight, so I felt fortunate to come across this one out for a walk in the early morning light.

Wrap your head around this because at this rate … they WILL be gone forever! “North of Zimbabwe, in central Africa, an estimated 23,000 elephants, or roughly 60 each day, were killed last year. A pound of elephant tusk sells for about $1,500 on the black market. That’s more than double the price just five years ago. Ivory is used to make carved ornaments and trinkets.”

As a child growing up in the late 60‘s and early 70’s, I was a devoted viewer (ok, OBSESSED is a more accurate term) of every network television show that I could find with animals in the cast. To name a few there was Flipper (Duh ;-), Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Lassie, Wonderful World of Disney, Bonanza … because they road horses (and I had a huge crush on Little Joe but that’s another blog entry), The Beverly Hillbillies because their cast members included chimpanzees, dogs, a deer, opossums, bears, goats, raccoons, kangaroos, AND Green Acres because they “adopted” a pig named Arnold Ziffel as their son. I truly loved watching them all but when DAKTARIcame on the television NO ONE could touch the knob!!! It was my HANDS DOWN favorite from the moment I saw the first show and I dreeeeeeeamed of becoming a veterinarian so that I could travel to “The Compound” in Africa to work with Dr. Tracy! Because of course, I KNEW his daughter Paula was going to have to get married someday (as all girls did back then … meh)! And I KNEW that I would to be the ONLY person that Dr. Tracy would accept to replace her!!! Mostly because I would be like a second daughter to him and NEVER get married and leave The Compound, because why would? I couldn’t wait to go to AFRICA and work with Clarence The Cross Eyed Lion!!! Yah, well let me tell you, I really believed ME back then and it was because of Clarence that I dreamed of becoming that veterinarian and finding my way to Africa. As childhood dreams often morph into strange versions of the original, as an adult I did not actually pursue a career as a veterinarian but I did become a professional dog groomer 😉 and I have a very special affection for Chow Chows! Funny, right?

Now, some 40 years later, (ahem, did I write that out loud?), I found myself on the Serengeti with my daughter by my side, massive cameras in both our hands … and although this boy is NOT Cross Eyed and he did NOT (probably a good thing) jump on me for hugs and kisses like I’d dreamed of since my childhood, I did find MY Clarence … I’ve named him “NIK” and I finally brought him home!